The
associated press did a national story on the silentlambs conference
on 4/27/04. The story was very good and we were so excited to see it
hitting papers across the USA on Sunday morning. The story is as follows,

Jehovah's
Witnesses Hold Sex Abuse Caucus

By RICHARD N. OSTLING
AP
Religion Writer

4-27-04

NASHVILLE, Tenn. P
resent and former Jehovah's Witnesses
who claim they were sexually abused by congregation leaders gathered
in their first national caucus Saturday, sharing grievances about the
religion's handling of abuse complaints and discussing legal strategy.

William Bowen, former leader of a Kentucky congregation of Jehovah's
Witnesses, said Saturday that more than 6,000 alleged sexual abuse victims
have contacted a group he founded in 2001 to express "outrage at
being silenced by the bad institutional policies" of the faith.

The religion's procedures "can decimate the lives of the innocent
and empower predators to get away with the crime of rape," Bowen
said.

Bowen's group, called silentlambs, was holding the caucus, which runs
through Sunday and drew about two dozen participants.

A key participant was Kim berlee
Norris , an attorney from Fort
Worth , Texas
, whose firm represents 47 alleged
abuse victims in civil cases against Jehovah's Witnesses organizations
and individuals. Since getting involved in 2002, she said, she has spoken
with more than 2,000 victims.

J. R. Brown, public affairs spokesman at world headquarters of the Witnesses'
Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, in New
York City , said the religion agrees
with silentlambs' goal "to minimize or eliminate the sexual abuse
of children," but disputes the group's specific allegations.

"We do not view them as our enemies," Brown said.

Bowen contends that the Witnesses organization is a "pedophile
paradise" because of the strong authority exercised by local elders
and their overseers and the unusual way in which cases are handled.

As members of the faith understand biblical teaching, an accusation
of wrongdoing must be supported by two people with direct knowledge,
which silentlambs says is impossible in most molestation cases. Without
such corroboration, the accused person is deemed innocent, silentlambs
says, and victims and parents can be "disfellowshipped," or
excommunicated, for slander if they speak up.

For a Witness, excommunication is a very harsh punishment. It means
being cut off from relatives, friends and business associates. Bowen
and other whistle-blowers have been excommunicated fo r
r aising abuse complaints against
the organization.

Brown disputed the silentlambs' contention that Witnesses are discouraged
from taking abuse complaints to secular police. Official policy says
elders should report abuse allegations to police if state laws require
this, as is now the case in many states.

Silentlambs, founded in 2001, has formed a loose interfaith alliance
with two older groups that emerged from the Roman Catholic abuse scandals:
The Linkup, based in Louisville ,
Ky. ,
and Survivors Network of those Abused by P
riests, or SNA P
, with offices in Chicago
and St.
Louis .

The issue has international ramifications for the Witnesses, who report
about 1 million U.S.
followers and 6 million worldwide.

One silentlambs speaker was Anders Kristensson, visiting from Sweden
. He said when he told his local
elders about his abuse they simply gave hi m
c opies of the religion's Watchtower
and Awake magazines, said "trust in Jehovah, everything will be
O.K., and that's it."

Roger Carlson, a former Witnesses elder in Sweden
, said that since a national television
report last year about abuse amon
g Witnesses, 60 new victims have
come forward.

NASHVILLE,
March 27 -- P resent and former Jehovah's Witnesses who claim they were
sexually abused by congregation leaders gathered in their first national
caucus Saturday, sharing grievances about the religion's handling of
abuse complaints and discussing legal strategy.

William
Bowen, former leader of a Kentucky congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses,
said Saturday that more than 6,000 alleged sexual abuse victims have
contacted a group he founded in 2001 to express "outrage at being
silenced by the bad institutional policies" of the faith.

The
religion's procedures "can decimate the lives of the innocent and
empower predators to get away with the crime of rape," Bowen said.

Bowen's
group, called Silentlambs, was holding the caucus, which runs through
Sunday and drew about two dozen participants.

A
key participant was Kim berlee Norris , a lawyer from Fort Worth whose
firm represents 47 alleged abuse victims in civil cases against Jehovah's
Witnesses organizations and individuals. Since getting involved in 2002,
she said, she has spoken with more than 2,000 victims.

J.
R. Brown, spokesman at world headquarters of the Witnesses' Watchtower
Bible and Tract Society, in New York , said the religion agrees with
Silentlambs' goal "to minimize or eliminate the sexual abuse of
children," but disputes the group's specific allegations.

"We
do not view them as our enemies," Brown said.

Bowen
contends that the Witnesses organization is a "pedophile paradise"
because of the strong authority exercised by local elders and their
overseers and the unusual way in which cases are handled.

As
members of the faith understand biblical teaching, an accusation of
wrongdoing must be supported by two people with direct knowledge, which
Silentlambs says is impossible in most molestation cases. Without such
corroboration, the accused person is deemed innocent, Silentlambs says,
and victims and parents can be "disfellowshipped," or excommunicated,
for slander if they speak up.

For
a Witness, excommunication is a harsh punishment. It means being cut
off from relatives, friends and business associates. Bowen and other
whistle-blowers have been excommunicated fo r r aising abuse complaints
against the organization.

Brown
disputed the Silentlambs' contention that Witnesses are discouraged
from taking abuse complaints to secular police. Official policy says
elders should report abuse allegations to police if state laws require
this, as is now the case in many states.

Silentlambs,
founded in 2001, has formed a loose interfaith alliance with two older
groups that emerged from the Roman Catholic abuse scandals: the Linkup,
based in Louisville , Ky. , and Survivors Network of Those Abused by
P riests, or SNAP , with offices in Chicago and St. Louis .

The
issue has international ramifications for the Witnesses, who report
about 1 million U.S. followers and 6 million worldwide.

----------------------------------------

And
best of all the New York Times,

March
27, 2004

Jehovah's
Witnesses Hold Sex Abuse Caucus

By
THE ASSOCIATED P RESS

Filed
at 3:13 p.m. ET

NASHVILLE,
Tenn. (A P ) -- Present and former Jehovah's Witnesses who claim they
were sexually abused by congregation leaders gathered in their first
national caucus Saturday, sharing grievances about the religion's handling
of abuse complaints and discussing legal strategy.

William
Bowen, former leader of a Kentucky congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses,
said Saturday that more than 6,000 alleged sexual abuse victims have
contacted a group he founded in 2001 to express ``outrage at being silenced
by the bad institutional policies'' of the faith.

The
religion's procedures ``can decimate the lives of the innocent and empower
predators to get away with the crime of rape,'' Bowen said.

Bowen's
group, called silentlambs, was holding the caucus, which runs through
Sunday and drew about two dozen participants.

A
key participant was Kim berlee Norris , an attorney from Fort Worth
, Texas , whose firm represents 47 alleged abuse victims in civil cases
against Jehovah's Witnesses organizations and individuals. Since getting
involved in 2002, she said, she has spoken with more than 2,000 victims.

J.
R. Brown, public affairs spokesman at world headquarters of the Witnesses'
Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, in New York City, said the religion
agrees with silentlambs' goal ``to minimize or eliminate the sexual
abuse of children,'' but disputes the group's specific allegations.

``We
do not view them as our enemies,'' Brown said.

Bowen
contends that the Witnesses organization is a ``pedophile paradise''
because of the strong authority exercised by local elders and their
overseers and the unusual way in which cases are handled.

As
members of the faith understand biblical teaching, an accusation of
wrongdoing must be supported by two people with direct knowledge, which
silentlambs says is impossible in most molestation cases. Without such
corroboration, the accused person is deemed innocent, silentlambs says,
and victims and parents can be ``disfellowshipped,'' or excommunicated,
for slander if they speak up.

For
a Witness, excommunication is a very harsh punishment. It means being
cut off from relatives, friends and business associates. Bowen and other
whistle-blowers have been excommunicated fo r r aising abuse complaints
against the organization.

Brown
disputed the silentlambs' contention that Witnesses are discouraged
from taking abuse complaints to secular police. Official policy says
elders should report abuse allegations to police if state laws require
this, as is now the case in many states.

Silentlambs,
founded in 2001, has formed a loose interfaith alliance with two older
groups that emerged from the Roman Catholic abuse scandals: The Linkup,
based in Louisville , Ky. , and Survivors Network of those Abused by
P riests, or SNA P , with offices in Chicago and St. Louis .

Linkup
leader Susan Archibald is joining the silentlambs board and Bowen is
joining Linkup's board. The
issue has international ramifications for the Witnesses, who report
about 1 million U.S. followers and 6 million worldwide.

One
silentlambs speaker was Anders Kristensson, visiting from Sweden . He
said when he told his local elders about his abuse they simply gave
hi m c opies of the religion's Watchtower and Awake magazines, said
``trust in Jehovah, everything will be O.K., and that's it.''

Roger
Carlson, a former Witnesses elder in Sweden , said that since a national
television report last year about abuse amon g Witnesses, 60 new victims
have come forward.

Group
meets on Witnesses' abuse AZ Central.com, United
States - Mar
27, 2004 NASHVILLE
- P resent
and former Jehovah's Witnesses who claim they were sexually abused
by congregation leaders gathered in their first national caucus
Saturday ...

Jehovah's
Witnesses group alleges sex abuse Miami
Herald, FL - Mar
28, 2004 P resent
and former Jehovah's Witnesses who claim they were sexually abused
by leaders in the congregation gather in an effort to publicize
their concerns. ...